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I've been a Beatles fan forever, so I was intrigued but prepared to be disappointed by covers. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a beautifully conceived and delivered album. Nearly every performer (except maybe Grandaddy with a tepid "Revolution") manages to stay true to the Beatles' original while still adding a little something of themselves to the song, a testament to the strength of both the songwriters and the performers.

The album features an eclectic bunch, from the Black Crowes (with a trippy "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") to Paul Westerberg (lending new depth to "Nowhere Man" with his seen-it-all-but-still-hopeful time-worn voice). It's especially nice to see lesser-known performers like Heather Nova and the Vines getting space here as well. The common thread seems to be a genuine passion for the music - the inside cover of the CD jacket says simply "all you need is love," and this album really does feel like a labor of love. Most of the songs have a mellow, dreamy quality; listening is sort of like being wrapped up in a warm blanket.

Michael Penn (brother of "I am Sam" star Sean Penn) and his wife Aimee Mann start things off with a tender, Simon-and-Garfunkle-esque duet of "Two of Us." Sarah McLachlan's "Blackbird" is pretty but doesn't add much to the original, which is probably a good thing. Rufus Wainright's "Across the Universe" - with its timely refrain of "Nothing's gonna change my world" - is passionate and plaintive.

My favorite is the Wallflower's rendition of "I'm Looking Through You," one of the more lively songs on the album, with jangly guitars and those familiar Beatles harmonies.

Other standouts include Eddie Vedder bleeding his soul into a growling "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and Nick Cave closing out the album with a slightly darker take on "Let It Be."

Overall, this album gave me a renewed appreciation for the Beatles' song-craft and the timeless ability of this deceptively simple music to reach deep into the soul. It's also a chance to hear from some of today's top artists as well as brush up on some other great musicians who don't get as much mainstream exposure.

48 of 54 found the following review helpful:

Three-fourths of PerfectionJan 29, 2002
By D. Movahedpour "doeadear"
This is one of the best albums of Beatle cover versions I have ever heard, but several of the songs on the album are also the worst I've ever heard. The gems make up for the failures, however. I have never heard a better version of 'Across the Universe', outside of the Beatles original, than the version by the very-talented Rufus Wainwright. Eddie Vedder sings a soulful and unforgettable version of 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away'. Ben Harper's cover of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' is absolutely beautiful. The husband and wife team of Aimee Mann and Michael Penn bring a fresh charm to 'Two of Us'. Ben Folds' 'Golden Slumbers' is memorable, and Sarah McLachlan is a fine choice for 'Blackbird'.

The first three quarters of this album are fantastic, but there are three versions I find downright unlistenable. Chocolate Genius completely destroys the soul and spirit of 'Julia'. And, although John Lennon originally wanted 'Revolution' to be a slow song, the version by Grandaddy completely misses the point. Nick Cave's version of Let It Be, which finishes off the album, completely spoils the song.

Every other song on the album is either very good or pretty close to a gem. I choose to skip the three songs I couldn't bear to listen to, and enjoy the album for its good points.

19 of 19 found the following review helpful:

WowJan 22, 2003
By Dan Speicher
I had fallen away from the Beatles music, but this soundtrack drew me back in. Although I had spent some time listening to other genres and styles of music, this soundtrack reminded me of how much I really did love the Beatles... And still do. I must say that among these renditions of the great Beatles hits the Eddie Vedder (Hide Your Love Away), Black Crowes (Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds), Sarah McLaughlan (Blackbird), Sheryl Crow (Mother Nature's Son), and suprisingly Aimee Mann and Michael Penn's (Two of Us) performances were AMAZING. Although nothing will ever be as good as the original, once you've seen the movie you gain a very deep appreciation for this soundtrack. Once you've seen the movie you really learn to love Rufus Wainwright's version of "Across the Universe" you can even hear in the back of your head Lucy trying to convince herself that "nothing's gonna change my world." And also, in the tender moment with Lucy and Sam on the bus, when Lucy is running away from the social worker, "Strawberry Fields" (One of my favorite Beatles songs by far) by Ben Harper adds a very soft sound to that moment. This is overall a great soundtrack. Don't let any of these negative criticisms on here deter you from buying this one. It's a keeper.

9 of 9 found the following review helpful:

Strawberry Fields Forever!...FIVE STARS PLUS for this music!May 09, 2006
By Matthew G. Sherwin
It will always be incredibly challenging to match the artistic talent that The Beatles possessed. Nevertheless, this set of songs by the artists on this CD is as good as it gets to achieving a proper, respectful tribute to The Beatles with thoughtful and passionate cover songs.

The CD has a whopping 17 tracks for almost an hour of music from the movie (or inspired by the movie) I Am Sam. The music was beautifully woven into the movie; but even with just this CD you'll be blown away! It's a must-have for fans of The Beatles, the artists here, and fans of great rock everywhere.

The CD starts off strong with a rendition of "Two Of Us" by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn. I think their personal relationship helped make them harmonize so well for this song. The Black Crowes do an excellent job with the musical arrangement for "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds;" the drums are first-class! Sheryl Crow injects a great country music accent to "Mother Nature's Son." Sarah McLachlan performs a very sensitive rendition of "Blackbird;" and the CD ends beautifully with one of my very favorite Beatles songs, "Let It Be" performed by Nick Cave with Chaz Jankel on piano. Awesome!

Amazon writes that some of the "reinterpretations (on this album)...are riskier." I don't agree. While risks were taken, you won't know it! For example, Grandaddy does a great job of adding their own spice to "Revolution" and Paul Westerberg's voice was rather pleasing to my ear on "Nowhere Man."

The quality of the sound is excellent; and all of the musical arrangements are very thoughtfully produced. The liner notes come with a few color pictures from the motion picture I Am Sam; and you also get the song credits.

Overall, this CD is the product of an exceptionally talented group of artists who perform a noticeably sensitive suite of covers of great Beatles songs. This album will touch a nerve in you and leave you wondering why they couldn't have recorded even more. The singers expressed even the finest of nuances in the meanings of every word in every song; and I treasure this album as one of my preferred CDs. If this were a vinyl album I would have worn the grooves off of it long ago.


13 of 16 found the following review helpful:

I Am Sam's Beatles Tribute Album.Jan 09, 2002
By Benjamin Neufeld
When given the Beatles' vast and almost uniformly brilliant catalog of songs, the comparative skill of any contemporary artist or group covering just one of those songs becomes immediately apparent. This is the case on the soundtrack to the film "I Am Sam", which showcases seventeen radio-friendly and largely successful homages by a handful of recognizable musicians.

By and large, the most successful tracks here are Eddie Vedder's "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", Aimee Mann & Michael Penn's leadoff track "Two of Us", and The Wallflower's "I'm Looking Through You" - the songs performed by those inherently talented and respectful, yet with nothing to prove. For the most part, this is the case, and even those who experiment with the tone of the original, such as Grandaddy's arhythmic, blip-spotted "Revolution" or Howie Day's slowed-down, acoustic "Help!" are worth a listen. Had the album been trimmed down to only fourteen or fifteen tracks, it would have been the better for it, however: Heather Nova's "We Can Work It Out", compared to the original, sounds strained and out of key, and Chocolate Genius' slow-jam-fettered "Julia" just sounds wrong on so many levels.

Finally, props must be given to Nick Cave's "Let It Be", which, like Eddie Vedder's track here, captures not only the essential sound of the original song, but the entire emotional and artistic thrust of the stage in the Beatles' career said song came out of: Cave sounds weary, like he always does, but it's an entirely appropriate tone for the Beatles' swan-song single, and the piano playing is magnificent.

It's astonishing that, in the glut of covers records on the market lately, there hasn't been a Beatles tribute album to this magnitude released until now, and now that it has been, it's an immense relief that it was done right. It may trip up occasionally, when V2 feels the need to plug one of their own, but for the most part the sheer talent present here more than makes up for it.

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